REPLAY
by xXRottWeilerXx
Summary: What can you ask for a welcome home present from Sakuno? A kiss? A hug? Onigiris? Well, Ryoma discovered something better than those. WAY, way better. Although it did kinda hurt, A LOT, but it was worth it. ORIGINAL PLOT


**REPLAY**

**A/N: Hoi, hoi! I just thought that I should treat my readers with a oneshot fic that I just thought about. Nothing dirty, though. Hope you'll love this fic.**

**

* * *

**

"... mou, Sengoku-san... I think your car needs to spend a lot of time in this garage if you persist on keeping it..."

Sengoku couldn't help himself from staring into those beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen. His mind was not focusing on what the mechanic had to say, instead he was so into the woman in front him, who happened to be the sexiest, cutest, hottest mechanic he'd ever seen. He couldn't help his eyes from travelling along her neck, further up to her throat, a stop at her lips saying something he couldn't quite digest, and finally stopped on her eyes.

"...the piston rings are worn, and that causes the lack of compression needed. Oh, and Sengoku-san? Your air conditioner belt needs to be replaced..."

She had raised a hand wrapped up in an oversized glove and wiped the beads of sweat on her smooth forehead, causing some strands of fine hair to fall over her eyes. He couldn't help it. She was a dream come true.

"… I can ask Momo-chan to replace the pistons as fast as he can, and I'll try to replace that worn out belt in there. So, would that be ok for you?" she asked as she ended her explanations on his faulty engine, and blinked as the tall man standing in front of her didn't seem to respond.

'_So beautiful…Luckyyyy…'_

Sakuno waved a hand in front of his eyes as he seemed to be frozen in time.

"Sengoku-san? Are you okay?"

The 26-year old mechanic blinked again as the man gave a wide grin, his eyes seemed unfocused and dazed instead of answering her. Sakuno turned around and called for her workmate, Momoshiro. He was in the middle of installing a connecting rod in a custom-made Volkswagen engine when he looked up to answer the young Ryuzaki, a few smudges of grease on his nose, chin and forehead.

"Yeah?" He asked as he walked towards Sakuno, wiping his ungloved hands against his faded denim overalls.

"Um… I think something's wrong with Sengoku-san…" she motioned towards the still grinning Sengoku.

Momo smirked as he saw the said man, who was shamelessly grinning like a dork at his dear junior. He knew what the grinning man was thinking about. It must be revolving around the texture of Sakuno's cinnamon hair, her cute nose and her lips. Well, he couldn't blame Sengoku for checking out his closest junior since Seigaku Middle High. Most men who came to their workshop had always been surprised to see a woman mechanic checking their faulty engines. And most of them were smitten by the sweet innocent Ryuzaki. Some had even tried asking her out. While some were quite disappointed but still moved on with life after she rejected their dates politely, some were downright aggressive. They just wouldn't stop harassing her. And knowing Sakuno, she would sometimes break into tears at their harrassments. And those were always the times when Momo would hunt that guy down with a vein popping on his temple, ready to feed that guy his lunch, without forgetting his favorite five-pound iron wrench.

"Oi, Sengoku-san!" the spiky-haired man called out Sengoku's name, startling the orange-haired dude.

"Y-yeah?" said person managed to stutter out, before realizing his dignity was already flying away courtesy of his sudden stutter.

"Sakuno-chan was asking whether you're okay about leaving your car here, right?" he turned his head to Sakuno who nodded, her lips smiling.

"Yes, that's right. Is it okay, Sengoku-san?" she asked again, to make sure that the now embarrassed man understood that he was going to need to use public transport for a while.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for checking my engine." He managed a lame reply as he lends her his car keys.

He managed a smile as he shook Momo's greasy hands before he exited the workshop. Momo nearly laughed as the 'Lucky' Sengoku he knew to be somewhat composed; literally ran away from the workshop.

"Have a nice day, Sengoku-san!" Sakuno called out after the running figure with orange hair.

"LUCKYYYY!"

Sakuno lifted a brow as the workshop was filled with Momo's loud laughter.

**

* * *

**

"Game and match; Ryoma Echizen! Six games to three!"

A corner of his mouth kicked up into a satisfied smirk as he heard the umpire call out. The indoor stadium went silent for a while before cheers erupted, vibrating the cinder block walls of the stadium. The crowd chanted his name as a group of Japanese supporters stood up in the far-end seats, holding up their Nation's flag proudly.

"Never felt better than this, Ryoma. Thanks." Kevin said as he shook hands with the Japanese player who shook the world with his achievement at such a young age.

"Mada mada dane," he said teasingly at his American rival as he took the man's hand.

Kevin's eye twitched at the sentence and patted his shoulder with his racket.

"Whatever, Japanese boy. See ya later."

With a nod, Ryoma turned around to face the crowd. All the cheering somehow reminded him of his past. Suddenly he felt a strong urge to go back to his hometown, and celebrate with his senpais. A slight smile graced his handsome face as he realized he'd actually missed them. Looking back to the old times, he sorta missed the loud and nosy senpais he came to know for a short time, but left a deep impression in him.

"Senpai, I've done it." He said silently before the press started to swarm over him like bees, camera flashes and loud questions drowning the sound in his head.

'_Ryoma-kun will definitely be number one!'_

* * *

"Morning, Momo-chan!" Sakuno beamed as she breezed into the workshop early in the morning in her loose overalls and her short hair tied into a ponytail.

"Oh." He answered as he stepped out of his small office, holding a mug of strong coffee. He motioned the mug towards Sakuno as she walked into the office to punch her card. "Want some?"

Sakuno frowned and shook her head as she declined. "Momo-chan, Ann-chan's not gonna like it if she knows you're drinking strong coffee."

Momo laughed it off as he patted Sakuno's head. "C'mon, we still have to finish installing Sengoku-san's cylinders. Man, he took that piece of moving junk here with just about anything falling off."

Sakuno laughed as she followed Momo to Sengoku's car and slapped on her cap backwards to keep her side bangs out of the way; as she peered under the hood of the old Chevvy. "Ok, then… Oh my! Momo-chan, you're right. This car's so lucky to be alive. It's even missing an axle!"

Momo chuckled as he lied down on a skateboard and rolled himself underneath the car, starting on his part. As he wrestled with a stubborn nut with his precious wrench, he smiled to himself.

Just before Sakuno arrived, he got a call. A very special call. He smiled wider as he recalled the deep tone in the voice belonging to his once chibi kouhai greeting him with an informal: "Hey, senpai." He chuckled as he recalled their conversation regarding the currently World's Number One tennis player, much to Ryoma's discomfort. The amber-eyed kouhai had wanted to know everyone's whereabouts, as he was going back to Japan for a few years to sit back and relax while playing friendly matches with his ex-teammates.

"Oh, and if you're wondering, though I know you surely wouldn't tell me, Sakuno-chan is working with me, fixing up cars. If you're still as dense as you used to be, lemme make it clear to you that she's a mechanic. I thought I'd tell you long ago but I thought that maybe a little surprise would do."

"A mechanic?" said the younger man on the other side of the world, his voice a hint of surprise. Yeah, seven years to keep a surprise was surely a… well, a surprise.

"Yup, and I think you'd be glad to meet up with her. She's changed, you know. When you see her, I'm sure you wouldn't get enough of her. Not enough at all…" The last sentence was spoken teasingly into the phone, and if Momo hadn't known Ryoma better, he could've never guessed that the kouhai was smirking.

He could _feel _Echizen Ryoma smirking, amused with that particular news.

And now, sitting in the garage with the radio turned on in the background, Momo was thinking of a way to break the news to Sakuno without her freaking out and blush herself to death.

* * *

"Momo-chan's Workshop…" Ryoma read out loud as he stopped in front of a garage with a green-on-blue sign bolted firmly above the awning of the said workshop, the sound of the radio in the background playing Japanese songs brought back memories to him as a teenager who spent roughly a year in Japan before going back to America.

Through the clutter of metal, a voice caught his ears. Being keen with sound, Ryoma averted his gaze towards a person with a blue cap worn backwards; peering over the engine as the person happily installed a kind of metal cylinder into the old Chevvy. Instantly he noticed the person wearing the blue cap matching the overalls worn; was actually a woman. And somehow he knew she was Miss Wobbly Hips.

His gaze started a leisurely path from the small black sneakers she wore, up her grease-stained overalls, and further upwards to her slender neck, a few strands of cinnamon hair sticking to the side of her throat. His eyes traveled a few inches upwards and stopped a few heartbeats at her lips, past her cute nose and he stopped at her big brown eyes concentrating on the cylinder as she turned the wrench to secure the bolts and nuts.

He could hear Momo talking to what it seemed like a customer over the phone in his office with the door wide open. With Sakuno still not noticing his presence, he stood closely behind the grown-up woman to look at what she was doing. He raised a dark brow as he looked at the pieces of metals in the engine. He never knew about engines, maybe he knew how to change the water in the radiator and change a tyre, but he never really knew about the complicated stuff. The arrangements of the pieces somehow reminded him of calculus, a sea of numbers and symbols that one wouldn't understand unless he or she studies the subject. Then he heard her sweet voice humming. A low, relaxing melody reached his ears despite the cluttering sounds she made as she worked on the engine. Suddenly, he couldn't focus on her hands wrapped up in those awful over-sized gloves as she turned the wrench to take on a stubborn, rusty bolt. Instead, amber eyes studied her neck, the bead of sweat forming on her nape slowly rolled down her white neck and reached her throat, where he found it utterly so unlike him to stare at a woman and be amazed by that one drop of sweat.

He was busy contemplating about why he was so into this Miss Wobbly Hips when he shouldn't have been bothered by her change of appearance, when Sakuno finally took out the stubborn piece of bolt and her hand jerked backwards. She gasped as she realized she'd hit somebody behind her with her small knuckles. "Umph!"

If she hadn't heard the muffled 'ouch' coming from behind her, she would've thought she'd hit an invisible wall. She swiftly turned around and accidentally bumped her head against his chin, her cap knocked off her head. He figured if he hadn't backed off quick enough, the wrench she was holding could have even busted him in the nuts as she was bowing non-stop. "I-I'm really, r-really s-sorry!" She bowed profusely, as if her waist was missing a screw.

The man, still holding his nose, glared at her with a pair of clear amber-eyes that she couldn't seem to be afraid of, and suddenly it all came back to her in a flash. The person standing in front of her with those drop dead gorgeous eyes was Echizen Ryoma. The person she'd loved and never spent a day living without thinking of him. He mumbled something about 'Klutz' and 'wobbly hips and hands' as he reached down to pick up his cap and slapped it back onto his head, covering his raven hair.

"Sakuno-chan, what the heck- ECHIZEN!" Momo startled both of his kouhais and laughed as he saw Ryoma still holding his nose, his eyes irritated.

Though his face didn't show it, Momo knew from experience that his kouhai showed most of his emotions through his eyes. Yeah, that sounded crazy.

"What's with your nose, it ain't gonna fall off you know!" He said, as his hand gave a hard slap on Ryoma's back, making the tennis prince stifle a cough. That had HURT, dammit!

He turned his glare to Momo, who just shrugged it off with a slap on the younger Echizen's head. The older male laughed again as he heard Ryoma muttering something on the lines of 'idiot' and 'ragdoll'.

"C'mon! Let's get inside my office and see what we can do about your nose. Maybe Sakuno-chan can do something to fix you up, if you know what I mean…"

Ryoma ignored his senpai and being as dense as he was, he muttered through clenched teeth, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sakuno, who had been quiet since Momo came into the picture, suddenly blushed and kept her gaze glued to the floor muttering, "Mou, Momo-chan…" as she followed the two men into the office.

* * *

Sakuno wished she was somewhere else rather than being in Momo's office with Ryoma giving one word answers as he placed an ice pack on his nose bridge. She was so embarrassed to have actually punched Ryoma in the nose and head-butted him on the jaw. Little did she notice, as Momo was busy talking about the other senpais' whereabouts, Ryoma had taken brief glances towards her, the ice pack long forgotten. Apparently she was so busy staring at the floor, wishing the floor would just open up and swallow her up alive. And whole. She didn't want her hand or worse, her red face sticking out for the Tennis Prince to see.

She had been too observed in the engine, she didn't even notice Ryoma standing behind her. She was busy reminiscing her days before she turned out to be a mechanic.

Never in her life had she ever predicted she would end up as the few female mechanics that has ever worked in Japan. Tennis? Yes, she still played tennis. Now that she's working with Momo, they would sometimes meet up with Eiji, Fuji and even Tezuka. And she would always be the victim of Eiji and Momo. Not that she hated it, she'd rather play with Momo and Eiji rather than the creepy smiling Fuji and the stoic Tezuka. During her years after Ryoma left, the regulars had become somewhat fond of her. Maybe it was because she was Ryuzaki-sensei's granddaughter, she didn't know for sure. But they would always include her whenever they went on a reunion camping or a trip to the Karuizawa mountains, with excuses such as saying that Ryuzaki-sensei couldn't be the only female with them and that their old coach needed female company. Sakuno had a feeling they were also interested with her cooking skills since none of them, excluding Kawamura, could cook worth a damn.

Then one day, she found her true passion. Engines. She didn't know how she became fascinated in a crankshaft. Maybe because she was bored one day and decided to read her late father's books. One of the books she pulled out was a book regarding the misconception of engines and the truth behind every silly myth about engines exploding. Then little by little she went in too deep, that she decided to take up Automotive Engineering in college. Tennis was her first passion, but sadly she wasn't good enough in tennis. Too bad she was born with wobbly jell-o hips as Tomoka would describe it.

"Ne, Sakuno-chan. Why don't we close up for today? Since Echizen's back, we should celebrate him, no?" Momo said teasingly and made Sakuno blush more.

"O-Okay… What about the others?" She asked as she lifted her face.

She tried to ignore Ryoma's eyes as she turned to look at the clock hung nicely on the wall behind the chair he was sitting on. _'It's already three?' _A small frown adorned her forehead as she noticed the time. She was figuring out how fast time passed by nowadays as Momo stood up and stretched. "I'll tell them to go straight to Taka-san's."

Just as she was about to mouth an okay, she accidentally locked gazes with Ryoma. His stare held nothing that she knew about. No emotion, no nothing. She thought that maybe they weren't close enough for her to notice any glint in his eyes, or maybe he was very good at pretending she was just some ordinary girl that he happened to stumble into and got a welcoming punch in the face. Suddenly she felt like smiling. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the fact that she had just punched THE Echizen Ryoma and it felt kinda funny to her that even a person with amazing reflexes couldn't have predicted what would happen. Her brown eyes glinted as her lips turned up into a smile. A smile Ryoma had yet to get used to ever since he met her in middle high. As she looked away suddenly feeling embarrassed, she missed the slight smirk on his face.

"Oh, and Echizen?"

Ryoma's eyes stayed on her a heartbeat longer before he turned to Momoshiro.

"How did you get here?" The senpai asked, his hands busy stacking some paper contracts he had been working on lately.

Ryoma stood up, glanced at Sakuno who was already walking out of the office, and answered, "I walked here, from my home."

Just as he was about to push open the office door, Momo cleared his throat.

"She's still waiting for you, ya know."

Ryoma stopped to turn around and said over his shoulder. "Mada mada dane, senpai."

"Mada mada dane MY ASS!" Ryoma heard Momo called out after him as the office door closed.

If he hadn't ignored Momo's last comment, he was sure he would've beaten that spiky-haired senpai of his into a pulp. The 27-year old mechanic just had to choose between a grueling tennis match with the world's number one or a simple nail-biting, let's-roll-on-the-floor-together-while-beating-each-other-up kind of thing. Considering Momo, Ryoma knows his senpai will choose the latter.

* * *

Ryoma felt like falling face-down onto his long forgotten mattress and just sleep senselessly until the next morning, but it was too early. Heck, he just came off an airplane three hours ago; he deserved a whole day to sleep. Problem was, he couldn't keep his eyes closed.

As he kept one arm over his eyes, he wondered why he'd decided to be back in Japan. It wasn't what he'd planned, hell; he didn't even bother to plan anything other than winning the title of being World's Number One tennis player. Now that he'd achieved it, he never thought about what he would do after this. Sure, in probably three weeks he would have small tournaments and not forgetting the ATP, the Grand Slam, as well as the Wimbledon Cup. And he sure would want to grab the title of the World's number one again. But then, was his life just like that?

Giving up any attempt to sleep at all, he sat up in his bed and scanned his room that he had left for what felt like such a long time. But as he walked to his duffel bag and pulled out a certain tennis ball, his room still held that comfortable feeling. Nanako-san had probably cleaned and tidied the room every day since the past 13 years.

Nationals No. 1

The ball had that written on it. He'd never used it; he'd always kept the ball nicely tucked into the side pocket of his bag. Along with two of his frequently used red rackets. He used to have three, until the day he'd beaten Rikkaidai's Yukimura Seichii. With the ball in his hand, he lied down on his mattress and recalled the string of events that happened that day.

Let's see, he lost his memory because of his stupid but kinda useful oyaji. Then his previous opponents had helped him regain his memories. After that, he remembered going to the stadium for his last battle before he left America. He back pedaled. No, before that he'd met Ryuzaki outside the stadium. As always she stuttered out his name. He remembered that he stopped; deciding to hear what Miss Wobbly Hips had to say. Seriously, she should have trimmed her hair.

"_Ryoma-kun was the one who taught me tennis, and made me love tennis!" _

He knew she made a huge effort on holding back her tears, but a tear still managed to roll down. How'd he know that? He just knew. He'd surprisingly spent quite a time with her compared to other girls he knew to recognize the different tones in her voice. Heck, she was the only girl whom he'd let into his life, other than Nanako-san and his mom, and he didn't know why. She'd just breezed into his life with those ridiculously long braids of hers and her impossibly sweet, sweet smile and before he'd even realized it, he became somewhat fond of her.

"_I'll talk to you later, Ryuzaki_."

He'd said, and he meant it. After he was tossed into the air feeling like a total hero, the Seigaku regulars decided to celebrate at Taka-san's as usual. Ryuzaki-sensei had to be sent home by Fuji as the old hag had drank so much she couldn't even form proper words. The only thing he heard clearly was that she told him to walk Sakuno home. She didn't forget to add the word 'safely' before she staggered out of the door with a smiling Fuji.

He scratched his head trying to remember what happened after that. When he did, he was kind of embarrassed that he remembered.

He'd been walking with Sakuno quietly following behind him. Neither of them said a word, and the tap-tap sound her shoes were making as she walked was driving him crazy. As they neared her doorstep, she bowed to him and thanked him with one of those smiles of hers that made him feel as if his heart expanded and filled his chest. He replied with a 'betsuni' and turned around, fixing the brim of his cap to hide his eyes from looking into her brown ones. He was about to walk away when he felt her hand tugging at his jersey. He stopped and turned around to face the blushing Sakuno.

"_Uhm, that… Ryoma-kun… uhm… Congratulations for winning…" _

He suppressed a grin as he heard her voice, the voice that he hadn't heard for quite a while. She had been quiet the whole time they were in Taka-san's Sushi, and he fought himself from shaking her and to force her to speak at least a word. He decided to pretend he didn't notice. And he did pretty well at ignoring her, deciding that he deserved an award for that

"_Ryuzaki_," he voiced out. He was still thinking about what to say to her about the moment just before his match with Yukimura.

Deciding that it was so unlike him to think of anything decent to say to a person when he himself rarely talks, he decided to put down his duffel bag and bent over his bag to open the zipper. He straightened up, slung his duffel onto his shoulder once again, and handed Sakuno his red racket.

"_Here,"_ he said, handing the red racket to a bemused Sakuno.

She blinked at him as she stared at the racket that he was still holding.

"_E-Eh?"_ She blushed as Ryoma sighed and took her hand.

"_You'll need this,"_ he said as he closed her fingers around the handle, yet again earning another blush from Sakuno.

The braided girl continued to stare at the racket in her hands as Ryoma started to walk away. Sakuno always knew that the boy was romantically challenged, but she didn't mind a bit. That was just how Ryoma-kun was, and she was glad that she had the privilege to know him better through those short walks from Seigaku to her house. She smiled and hugged the red racket to her chest and called out his name.

Ryoma was halfway towards the gates as he heard her calling him. He turned around and nearly staggered backwards as Sakuno bumped herself into him. His eyes widened a fraction and nearly went cross-eyed as Sakuno looked up into his face, smiling very prettily, a tint of pink coloring her cheeks, and their noses inches apart from touching. Ryoma's eyes lowered to her lips as she said, _"Thank_ _you,"_ her voice a small whisper.

He racked his brain for a reply, the words 'betsuni', 'hn' and 'che' sloshed about in his brain as Sakuno neared her face and he couldn't seem to move a muscle as she planted her soft, soft lips on his jaw.

Then he stopped trying to think anymore.

He froze, his breath caught in his chest and his brain shut down.

Ryoma didn't say anything, afraid that the words coming out from his mouth would sound very inhuman-like. He stayed rooted in his place as Sakuno backed away, and with a pretty shade of red on her cheeks, she bowed to him again before closing the door.

Leaving a very stunned 13-year old Ryoma on her porch.

"_Mada mada dane, Ryuzaki."_ Finally he said through a smirk as he turned around once again to walk away.

* * *

It was one of those days when Ryoma wished he could take back what he'd thought before about meeting his senpais. He forgot that being with his senpais could be very exhausting, especially Eiji and Momo forcing him to drink a whole gallon of beer. He declined, as always. He didn't want to turn his brain into mush as he would very appreciate his first morning in Japan, after so many years, to be free of splitting headaches.

"Ne, Echizen. How did you know about Kaidoh being the next captain after Tezuka before we even told you?" Fuji asked as he reached for his tea, situated next to Sakuno's cup of warm tea.

Ryoma looked up from his own plate of sushi and glanced briefly at the quiet Sakuno sitting across him, to his ex-senpai sitting next to her. A smirk played his lips as he replied, "Someone had been writing letters to me."

Fuji smiled knowingly and popped a wasabi sushi into his mouth. Sakuno looked up into Ryoma's eyes, blushed, and took a sip of her tea. She regretted doing so. The tea was so hot, it had burned ten thousand of her taste buds before she put the cup of tea onto the table, right where it belonged to in the first place. Suddenly she really wanted to cuddle into her grandmother who hadn't come to the reunion due to her inconsistent fatigue. She made a note to herself to make her grandmother a nice pot of tonics for the next morning. Sitting by the bar, Momo pointed to the 26-year old tennis pro with the bottom of his cup.

"Really? Who?" before Ryoma could somehow mutter an answer, the sliding doors of the shop slid open and revealed Kaidoh.

The viper nodded, acknowledging Ryoma's presence, and took a seat next to Momo. The sudden entrance of Kaidoh saved Sakuno from an embarrassment she didn't want to live with for the rest of her life.

"It's sort of a dream to see you make it to the world, Echizen." The former vice-captain spoke up, giving Ryoma a thumb up.

Eiji stuffed his mouth with onigiris and something clicked in his head, "Ne, ochibi… You said someone sent you letters, then how come you didn't know about our friendly matches with the ex-Rokkaku players? When was that?"

Kaidoh murmured as he lifted his green tea to his lips, "Eight years ago."

At this, Ryoma glanced again towards Sakuno, who seemed oblivious to the situation while talking to Taka-san about recipes and his twin daughters, and decided to answer, "Somehow the letters stopped coming a year after the Ntionals."

He had deliberately answered loudly enough for Sakuno to hear, causing her to blush, yet again.

* * *

Sakuno inhaled the cold air into her lungs as she sighed. She was walking next to Ryoma, who didn't seem to want to start a conversation. So she did what she always did since middle high when he would be walking her home. Try to start a decent conversation. "How's Karupin-chan?"

Ryoma turned to her for a while before answering, "Dead,"

Sakuno nearly stopped. "Oh, I didn't mean to… I'm sorry…"

Ryoma shrugged, as if to say it was okay. He'd known already that Karupin would die someday, because the hairball had been too old to be jumping around the fences and always too tired to disturb his perverted oyaji. Sure, it had hurt, but he was a big boy. No crying for him.

"Ryuzaki…" He stopped, and turned to the cinnamon-haired girl. She looked up into his face, patiently expecting what he had to say.

"Your hair's short." He simply said as his eyes traveled from the top of her head to the ends brushing lightly against her shoulder.

The spring breeze blew in the space between them, causing Ryoma's eyes to be covered with the strands of his raven hair briefly before he raised a hand to remove them. Sakuno couldn't help but be stunned by his features. He was surely an eye candy, his long legs that made him stood at six-two, with those clear amber eyes to die for, and his nicely arched brows, his straight nose, and lastly the strong structure of his jawbone. The site of his jawbone brought back embarrassing memories which she would not want Ryoma to remember. Sakuno's loosened hair swayed lightly, framing her face. It took a moment for his words to sink in.

"Uhm… Y-Yes… It's a lot shorter. It's easier to play tennis like this." She blinked and smiled shyly at her stutter.

The tennis prince smiled unknowingly. So she did remember. Maybe she still remembered the kiss on his jaw, which kept him awake on that fateful, fateful night.

"What did I say again? Can't remember." Oh yeah, he surely remembered what he said. Her elbows, knees, and her hair.

Sakuno laughed a moment, a nice song to his ears, soothing his tired eyes. "My elbows were too stretched, my knees were too bent and my hair was long. To think about it again, I nearly cried when they trimmed my hair."

The smile on his face turned to that of his amused smirk. She had actually cried. Now _that,_ was amusing. She really was of the soft-hearted type. Not that he didn't know.

"What happened to those letters?"

The deep timbre of his voice faltered the smile on Sakuno's lips. She blinked once, twice, and blushed as she looked away.

"I-I kind of… lost your… address…" she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Okay." Was all he said.

"A-Ano... Ryoma-kun... Did you wait for the letters?" Sakuno asked, curious to know if he really waited for those letters. To hide her embarrassment, she lowered her head.

"I did." And he was kind of disappointed when the letters stopped. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

Sakuno opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, and decided to follow Ryoma as he turned to walk again, noticing they were near the house she'd lived with her grandmother since she was six. They paused in front of her doorstep, Ryoma standing behind her as she unlocked the door. Just as it had been thirteen years ago, instead that he wasn't wearing his cap and his regular jersey was replaced with a beige khakis jacket and a light blue polo shirt beneath it. Sakuno turned around to bow at him and flash a polite smile, before he replied with a slight nod and turned around to walk.

"Ryoma-kun…" she had called his name, the sound of his name on her lips sounded as if it had belonged there all along.

He turned around and his eyes widened a fraction as Sakuno placed her palms against his lean chest and tiptoed to give a peck on his strong jawbone. It was exactly a replay of what happened thirteen years ago, and he didn't want that same replay again. He was a selfish person, he knew that. Right now as Sakuno's warm body was pressed against his, reaching up to kiss the exact same spot she'd kissed before, he suddenly wanted something else.

A smirk tugged a corner of his mouth as he moved his face where her lips would meet his. The blush on Sakuno's cheeks deepened as she felt his strong hands on her waist, and as she tried to ask him about his actions, he said against her lips, "Not the same spot, Sakuno."

Before she could respond to Ryoma calling her by her given name, the tennis prince silenced any further questions with his she couldn't do anything but to kiss him back.

His hands swept her back as he pressed her into the warmth of his body. It had been so long and she missed him so much. His tongue stroked hers as he gained access to her mouth, and a small moan escaped her lips. The kiss was slow and sweet, and he wouldn't give a damn if anyone saw them right now.

He admitted it, he was in too deep. And he wouldn't mind to replay _this _moment.

* * *

**I know, I know… It's kinda cheesy. Thought that u'd like this though. But somehow, I feel as if this oneshot is quite long… isn't it?**


End file.
